On November 20th, the Holy Door of St Peter’s basilica in Rome will be closed, and the extraordinary year of the Jubilee of Mercy will be concluded. We continue with the reflection about the single letters of the word “MISERICORDIA”.

This month, the words are Intrepidness and Alertness.

On September 20th 2016 the World Day of Prayer  for Peace “Thirst for peace: faiths and cultures in dialogue” was held in Assisi. During this event Pope Francis in his address encourages us react to the “virus that paralyses, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervour, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference. We cannot remain indifferent. Today the world has a profound thirst for peace. In many countries, people are suffering due to wars which, though often forgotten, are always the cause of

On Sunday 4th Mother Teresa will be canonised. She is the symbol of humility. Respectfulness and humility: those are the two words I want to propose this month following the scheme given by Pope Francis  reflecting on each letter of the word MISERICORDIA (in Latin). “Respectfulness is an endowment of those noble and tactful souls who always try to show genuine respect for others, for their own work, for their superiors and subordinates, for dossiers and papers, for confidentiality and privacy, who can listen carefully and speak politely. Humility is the virtue of the saints and those godly persons who become all the more important as they come to realize that they are nothing, and can do nothing, apart from God’s grace (cf. Jn 15:8).” (Pope Francis)

The central solemnity of the month of August is the Assumption of the Holy Virgin to the Heaven.

A solemnity which reminds us of the final goal, task of our life. During this year of the Jubilee of Mercy we have received many occasions to reflect  on God’s mercy. We, every month, have been following the words given by Pope Francis to live fully the experience of mercy. This month the words are openness and maturity. ”openness is honesty and rectitude, consistency and absolute sincerity with regard both to ourselves and to God. An honest and open person does not act virtuously only when he or she is being watched; honest persons have no fear of being caught, since they never betray the trust of others. An honest person is never domineering like the “wicked servant” (cf. Mt24:48-51), with regard to the persons or matters entrusted to his or her care. Honesty is the foundation on which all other qualities rest.”  

This month the World Youth Day will be celebrated in Cracow. Its motto is “Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them”(Mt 5,7). The theme of mercy  is connected with the two words, charity and truth, we want to offer, this month,  for reflection continuing the comment to the words taken from the spelling of the word MISERICORDIA made by Pope Francis . As the Holy Father says , they are “two inseparable virtues of the Christian life, “speaking the truth in charity and practising charity in truth” (cf.Eph 4:15). To the point where charity without truth becomes a destructive ideology of complaisance and truth without charity becomes myopic legalism.” (Address of the Pope Francis to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2015).

This month, which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we continue by reflecting about the single letters that make up the word “misericordia” according to the scheme followed by Pope Francis during a meeting held on December 21st  2015.  

This month we celebrate WUCWO Day which is an extraordinary moment to reflect and pray for our  commitment.

With the joy of the gift of Amoris Laetitia let’s continue to meditate about the word MISERICORDIA following the single letters suggested by Pope Francis.

Let’s continue with the acrostic analysis of the leading word for this Jubilee year MISERICORDIA (mercy).

This month the words are spirituality and humanity.

We are entering  the Advent time. After the Jubilee of the Extraordinary year of Mercy we continue to experience God’s mercy in our daily life. Advent is the time of memory, invocation and expectance of the coming of the Lord. Advent    brings us to the heart of the Christian mystery. We need to be vigilant and ready to enter Christ’s mystery of His incarnation, his dwelling among us.

Marana thà!

Dear Friends,

As you know, Pope Francis  has decided to elevate the celebration of the Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene (July 22nd) to the dignity of a liturgical feast.

March 8th 2016 International Women’s Day

The annual celebration of the International Women’s Day on March 8th invites us to reflect about women in the various realities where WUCWO has been committed for more than 100 years for the respect and promotion of the dignity of women in every field. Many steps have been taken but there is still a long way to go.

Pope Francis is encouraging us very much, we are aware that his message is addressed to everybody and asks everyone to make a deep change of sensitivity: “The Church acknowledges the indispensable contribution which women make to society through the sensitivity, intuition and other distinctive skill sets which they, more than men, tend to possess.”(EG 103)… stressing that “demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that men and women are equal in dignity, present the Church with profound and challenging questions which cannot be lightly evaded”. (EG 104)